Introduction to Job
Job was a righteous
man who loved, worshiped, and served God with his life. But, one day God
allowed Satan to come after Job with all kinds of trials and tribulations. He
lost nearly everything, including his children, his servants, and his livestock.
And, then God allowed Satan to inflict Job’s body with all kinds of sores. But,
in all this, Job did not sin against God. He said, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”
Then Job’s friends
came to comfort him in his grief. At first, they did right. They wept over his
suffering, demonstrated sincere sympathy, and they sat with him in silence for
seven days, for they saw that his suffering was great. But, after the seven
days, Job began to lament his suffering, and even to lament that he had been
born. And Job began to question the justice of it all.
Then Job’s friends
began to speak, but not words of comfort, but words of accusation. They accused
Job of being unrighteous and of his suffering being a result of sin in his
life. Yet, how many times do the righteous suffer greatly while the unrighteous
go relatively free from difficulty and suffering? Job’s friends were making a
wrong assumption, and were falsely accusing him, and this only added to his
grief instead of helping to alleviate his suffering.
Job 19:13-22 NASB
“He has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances have completely turned away from me.
My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
All my associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the hand of God has struck me.
Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?”
Can you identify with Job in any of this? I can, at various
times in my life, although not usually as a result of physical suffering but as
a result of my walk of faith in my Lord Jesus, although I have had plenty of
physical suffering, too. But I have been accused falsely of sin when I did not
sin, and my opponents were just as persistent as were Job’s, at times. I have
had friends walk out of my life and want nothing more to do with me. And I have
had family members reject me and not approve of me.
I have felt like I don’t belong anywhere, and I have had
people tell me that I should go someplace else where I would be a better fit,
or that if I was one of them, then they would listen to me, or if I waited
until I had gray hair on my head (I was told in my early 30’s), then people
would listen to me. I have been invited out of small groups and some
institutional churches, but not because I sinned, but just because I was
different from them and I didn’t fit with their marketing schemes and with
their worldly teaching.
I have been mocked, and made fun of, and criticized, and
called names, and ignored, and fought against. And I have lacked in spiritual,
moral, and emotional support from others who also profess faith in Jesus
Christ. I know what it is like to feel sometimes as though I am all alone,
although I know I am not. I know what it is like to be treated with disrespect
and dishonor. And I know what it is like to have those I love turn against me.
And I am well experienced in physical suffering, too.
Yet I do understand, as Job did, that our God is fully
sovereign over all that he has made and that nothing can touch us but what God
allows it, like God allowed Satan to inflict Job with all these sores. And I
understand that God disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:1-13), and that
discipline is painful, but that God disciplines us for our good, so that we may
share His holiness, and so that when we have been trained by it, afterward it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
This, however, does not excuse away other humans treating us
unkindly and with disrespect and with rejection or mocking or abandonment,
etc., especially if they profess faith in Jesus. But when we understand that God
is sovereign and that he allows these things in our lives for our good, it brings
us peace and comfort. Yet God is not giving approval to what people are doing
against us. He opposes those who willfully mistreat his servants. And one day
he will judge them for their evil, unless they repent of their sins.
And I am not looking for pity. I shared some of my
experiences to say that I identify with Job in some of his sufferings, therefore
I can feel some of what he felt. And some days I still feel some of what is
described here. And by me sharing what I did, perhaps you identified with some
of what I felt, because you have experienced some of the same. And so perhaps
this served as an encouragement to you so that you know that you are not alone,
and that there really is a purpose for your suffering, and that it is for your
good.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh,
to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This
is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh,
to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving,
forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O
to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy
and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
O
to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour
out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make
me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit
me for life and Heaven above.
Oh,
to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come
in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
Caution:
This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment